Banished to a New Destiny
by gingerzest
Summary: Avatar Aang and his friends have gained an advantage over Fire Lord Ozai with the coming of an eclipse. After discovering this and escaping Wan Shi Tong's library, the gaang has discovered another possible advantage: the Dragonborn. Banished from Skyrim after an attempt to defeat Alduin, she has been given another chance at destiny. [Rated T for now]
1. Chapter 1

Her travels weighed heavily on her mind and body. Countless days full of sleepless or restful nights, along with the soreness from recent battles, have not made the journey as simple as she had hoped, and she still had to accomplish so much more. Bandits, thieves, and dragons especially—they all had attempted to end her and her mission. There certainly wasn't a bandit in all of Tamriel that could take her on with serious threat, although they were a nuisance. Their strength was no match for her stealth and cunning, but a dragon could easily sniff her out. Her thu'um and strength were evenly matched with a dragon's, and there were quite a few times when she barely made it out alive.

Before her journey led her to meeting Delphine, she hadn't pondered for an explanation as to why the dragons were returning. Now, her life had been consumed by chasing after the answer. While her fellow Imperials had been engaged in a petty war with rebellious Skyrim Nords, she had been fighting to save their own lives against a menacing creature who swore to devour the world.

" _Lok… Vah Koor!"_

The harsh winds had vanished from the sheer force of her shout, allowing her passage once more up to the Throat of the World. Paarthurnax was perched atop the word wall, expecting her arrival.

"You have it, Lucia. The _Kel_ – the Elder Scroll!"

She sensed both surprise and relief in his voice as she approached him, although she had felt mutual feelings.

"It was no easy feat, Paarthurnax." Lucia removed the Scroll from her back and held it in her hands, waiting for the next steps.

" _Kogaan Akatosh!_ _Geh_ – Yes, there is no question. You are doom-driven."

Lucia sighed and looked down upon the Elder Scroll. "I suppose I must be if I am to defeat Alduin. Are you certain this will allow me to learn the shout?"

"Certain? _Krosis._ I am hoping it will help you. We may be out of options if not. Now go. Read the Elder Scroll at the Time Wound."

She slowly turned to meet the warped area where Time had been damaged previously by those who shared a similar goal.

"Do not delay. Alduin cannot miss the signs. He will surely be coming."

She stepped through the crunchy snow until she felt she had been in the center of the warp. With a deep inhale, she opened the Scroll. A bright light had emitted from what was written, and her vision began to blur. She felt her body become weak, yet she had not budged until her surroundings had become clear once more. The Elder Scroll closed, and she had come to the glimpse in the past she was meant to see.

Three warriors stood still on the Throat of the World with a dragon before them, who was quickly recognized by Lucia as Alduin. But something was wrong. The warriors were not speaking. They did not attempt to attack Alduin. She wanted to move to them, but she couldn't move out of her place. Her voice made no sound. She had no way to reach out to the warriors.

The only being that moved was Alduin.

" _Mu grind ont, dovahkiin!"_

Lucia was startled. Were one of the warriors the previous dragonborn before her? Her gaze fell upon the three others, but they remained silent. Something was wrong.

"Do not be surprised. I had foreseen your coming, Lucia."

Her eyes narrowed from beneath her Nightingale hood. Alduin knew her name, just as the Cultists had. Because she was frozen in her spot and forced in silence, she felt hopelessly at his mercy.

"Those before you may have banished me, but you will fail just as they had in trying to defeat me! As they had banished me, so I will banish you. To Oblivion!"

Lucia opened her mouth to protest, but she still could not say a word or shout. In a sudden instant, her entire being had been engulfed by blackness. The last sound she heard was of Alduin's evil laughter echoing around her.

Toph struggled with all her might to keep Wan Shi Tong's library from sinking beneath the ground any further. Aang, Sokka, and Katara were all trapped under, and she was their only hope for escaping alive.

Behind her, she heard unfamiliar voices moving closer and closer to where she and Appa were. He roared in their direction. She knew something wasn't right.

"Appa!" She took her hands off of the pillar and turned to face where she last felt Appa. The voices were growing louder and fiercer with an awful intention, and Toph felt an instant churn of regret in her stomach. She could only save either Appa or her friends, not them both. She quickly turned back to the pillar and slammed her hands against it to keep it from falling down further.

She heard Appa struggle to fend off the strangers. His tail lifted and struck the ground with a mighty force, forcing one of them to stagger backwards. He turned his whole body to swat at another with one of his legs. There were too many around him, and he only had time to bat another away before he felt a rope wrap around his hind left leg. Another went around his front right. More ropes came at his way before he was finally brought to the ground, defeated.

"I'm sorry, Appa," Toph lowered her head in sorrow as she heard the strangers flee with him. What choice did she have? If not for her, her friends would be lost forever in the library. She had to think of the future. She had to think for Aang and his destiny. Who else had the power to end the war peacefully? But she wouldn't be able to explain it to Aang in such a way. Appa was just as much his friend as she, Katara and Sokka were. She would have to take his anger, swallow her pride, and help him defeat those who stole Appa from them.

Above her, she heard her friends fly out from the opening of the pillar and land behind her. Immediately, she let go of the stone and fell backwards, letting the library take its course beneath the earth. While Sokka and Katara celebrated behind her, she remained seated on the sand in disappointment from her inaction.

"Where's Appa?" Aang's worried tone made it worse for her to hear. She simply shook her head.

"No…" his eyes watered with tears at the thought of his best friend being taken away from him. He was angry, hurt, and felt slightly betrayed that Toph wouldn't try her best to protect Appa.

"Oof!"

Lucia's body hit the ground with a thud. She attempted to move immediately, but she felt weakened from the banishment. Her vision was blurry, more so than when she read the Elder Scroll. She rolled to her back haphazardly to reach for her satchel for an herb to make the spinning cease. Her hand roamed around her waist for the opening, but all she felt was her armor, nothing more.

Maybe she was imagining everything. Maybe she was sent back to the Throat of the World. Maybe Paarthurnax was waiting for her to get up so he could speak to her.

Her vision came back painfully slow. When she managed to open her eyes fully, she was quite unhappy to see the blue light of the sky. There was no snow swirling around her. No harsh wind sounding in the distance. Just warmth. An eerie warmth. She sat up to face her surroundings. Nothing but sand, sand that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles on end.

Fortunately, her hood cast some shade on her face to hide from the sun. That she was thankful for, but was this Oblivion? She had seen a part of the realm before, but it wasn't a desert. There was no feeling, and everything was a colorful blue. Crystals pierced out of everywhere. But here was different.

"Alduin, you fool," she spoke quietly. "Not even you must realize you failed to banish me to Oblivion."

She stood from her spot and felt for her satchel again, but it was nowhere to be found. Panicking, she looked around her to see if it had fallen off in her travels nearby, but she found nothing. All of her ingredients were in that satchel. Anything of dire importance was in there. Even her sword was gone, a gift she had treasured. She was banished with nothing.

"Can I even shout?" She whispered, holding a hand to her mouth in fear. It was only less than a year ago that she had herself figured out. She finally knew who she was and her purpose in life. Without her shouts, without the power of the Dovah, how was she to survive?

"Okay. Okay, okay," she lowered her hand and calmed herself.

She inhaled deeply.

" _Fus!"_

The wind struck the ground and lifted the sands up into the air. She was not powerless after all. With a sigh of relief, she looked down on her hands. _And my magic?_

She inspected her hands for a moment. She felt the familiar touch of heat along her arms, and the glowing red of her flesh before her hands were engulfed in flames. At her command, they vanished, and she felt another wave of relief rush over her.

Her thoughts turned to surviving as she began walking along the dune. Where was she to find water? Would she find another human around here? Is she anywhere near Tamriel? How would she escape if she wasn't? _Even home would be a pleasant sight to see at this point_ , she thought.

Ahead in the distance, where the light began to refract by the heated air, she spotted what appeared to be something cutting through, and hidden by, the sand, and it was moving quite fast in her direction. Could it be another dragon? Had Alduin followed her to make sure of her arrival, and to make certain she did not return? Or was this a creature of Oblivion, if she truly was there?

As the object moved closer, it became apparent to Lucia that it was no dragon or creature, but something resembling a ship. She spotted what looked to be people. People living in the desert were no stranger to the dragonborn. She had once helped a couple of Alik'r warriors, but she couldn't be sure these were the same people. Even if they were, she was more concerned with survival. Of course she had the honor and pride of a Dovah, but she also had the skills of a thief.

The ship hadn't slowed down, and she was sure they could spot her. In the night, her armor would have protected her from being seen, but she was extremely noticeable in the daytime. She had to make the ship stop on her own terms, it seemed.

" _Fus… Ro Dah!"_

Her thu'um overpowered the speed of the ship and forced them to stop in their tracks. The sail ripped away, the people fell back quite a few feet, and a creature in white fur had slid back as well. This was not Lucia's intention. Having been helped by a beast most would attempt to kill, she had more reverence for unknown creatures.

She ran over to the wreck after the whirlwind of sand cleared to inspect the animal. He struggled in rope binds, but didn't seem to be unharmed otherwise. The moment he spotted her, he attempted to flee in fear of another stranger.

"Shh, sh-sh, I'm not here to harm you," she spoke in an unthreatening and hushed tone.

"Step away from the bison!" She heard one of the people aboard the ship shout to her. Her gaze jolted over to them in time for her to witness him lifting up the sands with the mere movement of his hands. Instinctively, she lifted her hand to project a ward to protect her from any impact. She kept the ward spell up while quickly running off of the ship. As she moved backwards, the others aboard met with the attacker and moved in formation.

"You'll pay for destroying our ship!" The same person shouted at her again. Lucia took him as the leader of the others.

Not one for talk, Lucia immediately let down the ward. Her hands engulfed in flames, and he was the target. She put them both together to emit a fireball, which struck him as he attempted to move from her aim.

"A firebender!" another exclaimed, a term she was unfamiliar with.

"Let's turn her in and make more of a profit!" she heard another as he ran towards her. The fire in her left hand was replaced by a cooling sensation. Her hand turned blue, and she quickly threw an ice spike towards him, striking him in the shoulder. He staggered back with a scream as blood dripped down his side. Another attacker came at her right, and she produced the same spell in her right hand. He moved out of the way of the first spike and shifted the sands in front of him to pierce her body as the first attacker attempted. She turned away from him.

" _Wuld!"_

Her being moved several feet away with a blur in an instant, confusing the attacker and allowing herself to avoid being struck. He stopped and turned to face her just as he was impaled by a similar spike as his comrade.

She looked to spot the leader, although they had all been dressed in similar fashion. She wasn't sure which was which until she heard his voice. She prepared to attack, but he showed signs of retreat. He went over to one of his injured friends and helped him to his feet.

"Let's get out of here!" he exclaimed, the others following his lead as they ran off, leaving their wreck and the unknown creature behind.

The spells left her hands, and she walked back over to the beast—the bison, as she remembered him calling it. The bison flinched when he saw her come back up on the ship. Perhaps she did look threatening, even if her voice wasn't. She knelt down in front of him and removed the hood and cowl to reveal her face. Her smile was warm, her long hair was braided neatly in the back, and her striking blue eyes revealed the trust this bison could have for her.

"I'm not here to harm you," she repeated, keeping her eyes on his as she reached for one of the ropes. Her hands became hot once more to burn the tied end away. Once the bison realized what she was doing, he became calm and allowed her to burn all of the ropes until he could stand freely and shake them away. After he was free of the ropes, he moved back away from the wreck. Lucia hopped off of the ship and observed the rest of the bison to make sure no other marks were on him. If she didn't know any better, it looked as though he nodded in thanks.

"You're no beast, are you?" His domestic nature revealed otherwise. "Where is your master?" She gently began to pet his fur to coax him.

Suddenly, the bison jerked. There was no sound, but he roared loudly. This roar wasn't like his previous one she heard, not one of pain, but one of made deliberately. He looked towards the sky, and Lucia mimicked him, although she could not spot anything. The bison lifted his tail and jumped into the air, causing her to move back and stare in awe. Her surroundings may have been a mystery, but this creature became so much more.

"Appa!" she heard someone shout in the distance with excitement, and the bison flew towards the voice. She followed his pattern briefly until she was able to spot the person he was heading for. The being was a mere speck in the sky until they lowered themselves to the bison's level. She heard laughter from the being as both they and the bison had lowered entirely to the ground. The being, a mere child, ran over to the bison and jumped on his head to give him a hug, while the bison continued walking over to Lucia.

"I'm glad you're back, buddy!"

The boy fell from the bison's head and turned to Lucia. He saw the wreck, the ropes lying on the ground, and he knew he had only her to thank.

"Thank you for rescuing Appa." He bowed his head humbly. "You have no idea how grateful I am," he smiled.

For a moment, she was silent, only to observe. The boy and the bison—Appa—they shared similar markings. His a blue arrow, and the bison's a brown one. She may not have seen anything like it before, but there was an obvious connection between them.

With a smile, she also bowed her head. "Of course. I couldn't imagine what I would do if my friends were stolen from me."

He tilted his head. "Your accent's a bit funny. Where are you from?"

She didn't know exactly how to respond, but fortunately she didn't have to. She saw others running over to them. Another boy and two girls, one holding the other's hand.

The one in front of her turned around to face them, as well. "Hey guys! Appa's okay!"

They all seemed relieved, especially the shorter girl.

"And who's this?" The taller girl questioned, looking over at Lucia.

"She's the one who saved him!"

Lucia walked over to meet the others. "My name is Lucia. I was happy to be of help."

"I'm Aang, and this is Toph," he pointed to the shorter, blind one, "Katara," the taller one, "and Sokka."

"How did you fight off those sandbenders?" Toph questioned, more curious than suspicious. The others seemed to chime in, as well. After all, she wasn't carrying any physical weapon on her. Could she answer by saying her spells? She recalled using her flames, only to have them want to turn her in for being a…firebender, if she remembered the term correctly.

"And how did this ship become wrecked?" Sokka inspected the torn mast where the sail once was and the broken pieces of wood.

"I used my voice," Lucia faced Sokka and, like the others, his was of disbelief.

"Your voice?" He repeated. "Right."

Toph lowered herself to the ground and touched the sand with her hand. With a twist of her wrist, the sand beckoned at her command and became solid, which stretched over to where Lucia was standing. She felt for any sign of her lying, but everything about her suggested she told the truth. Lucia observed the behavior with question, but said nothing. Like others who didn't believe in her strength as the dragonborn, she had to prove it with physical evidence. Lucia placed her hand on Sokka's shoulder and gently pushed him aside. Turning to the wreck, she shouted once more.

" _Fus!"_

The wreck was pushed further away, and the sand lifted.

She turned to face the others. As she behaved earlier in amazement, so had they.


	2. Chapter 2

[Quick note: Hey, wow! I wasn't expecting this to get a whole lot of attention, and I was mulling over whether or not to leave this as a one-shot, but since it received some positive attention I've added this second chapter, and I'll keep it going. I can certainly guarantee that it won't take me another year to upload the next chapters (haha). So, enjoy, and continue to let me know what you think (I gladly accept critiques). Thank you for leaving reviews and following along!]

• • • • •

Paarthurnax, still perched atop the word wall, waited for Lucia's return. She vanished along with the Elder Scroll moments ago. While he wasn't anticipating her disappearance and understood little of the effects of the time warp, he was far too old to be fooled. His suspicions grew as minutes continued to pass.

"Hm."

He felt a lump of mistrust swell in his gut, but, before he could investigate anything further, the ground began to quake. Small flashes of lavender lightning erupted from the warp twice before deep purple smoke encircled around the summoned being. Hoping it was Lucia, Paarthurnax lowered his neck to try and see through the smoke, and his claws almost dug into the stone.

More lightning flashed before the being started to come into view. Wings as black as ebony emerged first, wings that Paarthurnax instantly recognized to be Alduin's. Small pieces of rubble fell from the wall as he jumped into the air and spread his wings to hover above the mountaintop. As the smoke cleared, both Paarthurnax and Alduin appeared on the offensive. With jaws opened, their shouts cracked through the air and echoed:

" _Yol…Toor Shul!_ "

Infernal spirals emitted from the backs of their throat simultaneously, colliding in the exact center of their distance from one another. Their strength appeared to be evenly matched, and Paarthurnax held a shred of hope that he could keep Alduin at bay. Unfortunately, Alduin's roar rumbled louder in his anger, and the flames engulfed his former brother's with a bit more ease. Paarthurnax was pushed back, but he managed to hold himself in the air. Alduin, however, remained still and did not continue his attack.

" _Zu'u drey ni bo heta krif hi, Paarthrunax*._ " A deep chuckle followed.

"Then what _did_ you come here for?" Paarthurnax narrowed his eyes, remaining on his defensive. His voice boomed in both defiance and anger.

"You have been among the _Jul*_ for too long…" Alduin spoke with disappointment. "I come to send a warning. I've sent the _dovahkin_ away—banished her to Oblivion!"

Shame was the first emotion to overwhelm Paarthurnax. His pride took a considerable blow to know how wrong he was to put Lucia into the realm of uncertainty. Alduin spread his wings and lifted himself into the air to speak eye-to-eye.

" _Koraav nii ofan, Zeymah.*_ I may not be so kind again."

The wind whirled violently as Alduin flew away from the mountaintop, leaving Paarthurnax alone to his thoughts. He found it ironic: after wanting, or needing rather, to be alone for so long, he found himself longing for the plan to have gone right. He longed for Alduin's tyranny to cease, especially since he revealed to him more power than anticipated. Being the first-born of Akatosh certainly gave Alduin many advantages in his quest for ultimate power, but traveling through time was…a new power, or something else.

He felt a similar suspicion as earlier, and acted upon it. He opened his mouth and shouted a roar of desperation.

" _Sadonvum!*_ "

His shout bellowed over the howling winds surrounding the mountain, and another quake rumbled, although this time with purpose. He flapped his wings and flew to the edge before soaring downward to High Hrothgar.

• • • • •

"She—she used her voice!" Sokka exclaimed in disbelief. He continued to mumble to himself as he walked over to the wreck to examine it further.

Aang scratched his head. "So, is that kind of like airbending? Or is it magic? What exactly did you just do?"

Lucia glanced at him with both curiosity and slight confusion. Magic and 'bending' appeared to be two different abilities, although they shared a similarity back on Tamriel. Sand and air manipulation reminded her of the Redguard. _Although, these people hardly look the part._ She elected to keep her thoughts to herself on that particular matter. She'd still yet to determine which plane she was banished to, and she did owe them an explanation, she gathered.

"No, it's not magic. I'm dragonborn." She spoke with a smile of reassurance, and stated it as matter-of-fact. However, it didn't seem to help with their confused expressions.

"…but, you don't look like a dragon?"

"Aang, I think she means 'born from the dragons'?" Katara attempted to explain.

"That doesn't make things better," Toph criticized her.

Their discussion didn't ease Lucia's mind at all, and it confirmed her suspicions. If they didn't know what a dragonborn was, lore that was known even to the realms in Oblivion, then she was far beyond Mundus, even far beyond the realm of Aetherius.

She turned her back on the other three, and her eyes widened. She felt a wrenching feeling in her gut. Alduin certainly was a fool in that he hadn't sent her to Oblivion. _There must be something more here._

Toph felt Lucia's sudden change in the rate of her heartbeat, but debated on whether or not to mention anything to Aang and Katara for too long.

Katara placed her hand on Lucia's shoulder to get her attention in her calm-nature. Lucia managed to hide her worry before facing her.

"We're headed over to Ba Sing Se. Can we give you a lift on Appa?"

"So long as _if_ you're traveling in that direction," Toph added, folding her arms across her chest.

 _Ba Sing Se_ , another name unfamiliar to her. "Well, I'm not sure which direction I need to be going in," she spoke truthfully with a sigh. Realizations happened too quickly for her to process, and she needed the time to think, of the Elder Scroll, of Alduin, of any connection this place had with either of them. Having made allies with the four of them already was an unforeseen advantage, and she could use all the help she could get inside the new realm. "But I will gladly go with you. Maybe I'll find my way there."

Toph's lips curled down slightly, still remaining unsure of what Lucia's intentions were. Something caused her to act unusually, and she was determined to figure that out before more awful things happened to them.

As Katara motioned Lucia over to Appa, Sokka returned from the wrecked sandbender ship with an expression similar to Toph's. While Aang helped Toph over to Appa, he noticed them both.

"Is everything okay? You guys don't look so happy."

"Everything's just peachy," Toph replied before climbing up on Appa's tail.

"You and I need to talk, about Lucia." Sokka whispered before climbing up after Toph.

Aang, questioning both of their motives, bent his knees and jumped high into the air with the help of his abilities. He gently landed by Appa's reigns before grabbing hold to them, and it amazed Lucia to see it in action. She only witnessed Redguard magic once, and to see this different ability was incredible to her.

"Yip yip!"

On Aang's command, Appa lifted his tail and bent his knees before jumping into the air to soar above the desert. The wind whipped at all of them, but it invigorated Lucia. She felt the hair on the back of her neck raise from the quick adrenaline rush. Although there was only sand to gaze upon from above, her mind went to the dragons, to Paarthurnax. _This must be what it feels like_.

While Lucia was preoccupied, Sokka crawled over to Aang and continued to speak in hushed tones.

"Aang, I saw something else in that wreck."

"And what does it have to do with Lucia?"

"I saw burn marks on the sand near it." He paused to let it sink in. "There weren't any firebenders around."

"But she saved Appa, Sokka. She can't be a firebender—or, as bad as one."

Sokka sighed. "I know that's what you want to believe, but you need to look at the facts, Aang." The tone in his voice turned grave. "We need to be careful with her if she is one."

Sokka moved away from Aang to avoid suspicion, although Katara noticed them talking and would certainly question them both about it later. Aang remained still for another moment before looking back at Lucia, who continued to enjoy the view. While he wouldn't deny how strange she was, he had to follow his own instinct, as well. A conversation with her, about where she was from, couldn't hurt, after all.

• • • • •

* _I did not come here to fight, Paarthurnax._

* _Humans/mortals_

* _See it as a gift, brother._

* _Graybeards!_


End file.
